slamming an allegedly intoxicated driver to the ground who is not resisting to execute an arrest constitutes excessive force
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) According to Robert Chambers, who was then seventy years old, he and his friend, Anthony Thornton, were hanging out at a gas station when several police officers, including Kenneth Short, approached them. Short told Chambers and Thornton that both needed to leave the […]
No standing to object to search of vehicle and subject was in constructive possession of drugs
Facts On February 19, 2015, Todd Jackson, owner of Tower and Tower Construction, called the Clay County Sheriff’s Department to report that his 2014 Ford F-350 was stolen and had been missing for three days. Jackson told Investigator Terry Scott that his foreman, David Sills, had taken the truck. Jackson was tracking Sills through his […]
search warrant had sufficient probable cause and particularity
Facts In 2019, Ed McCraw’s deer camp in the unincorporated community of Camden in northern Madison County was burglarized twice. The first burglary occurred in the early afternoon, and the second occurred that night. Around noon, Genoris Williamson, Quintavious Davis, and Greg Johnson drove to McCraw’s deer camp to case the property because Williamson wanted […]
a suspect’s active resistance to arrest justifies an enhanced degree of force including the use of a taser
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) This case arises from an incident that occurred around midnight on January 31, 2019, in Greenwood, Mississippi. Gianni Williams was driving home when Officer Jerry Williams of the Greenwood Police Department observed him turn without signaling. Officer Williams followed Gianni to his residence. […]
factors which by themselves may appear innocent may in the aggregate rise to the level of reasonable suspicion
Facts At approximately 12:30 a.m. on February 21, 2021, a Midland resident called the Midland Police Department (“MPD”) to report an individual entering her backyard. MPD Officer Kienan Goodnight responded to the call and took photos of the resident’s security camera footage that recorded the alleged prowler. Shortly after the call, MPD Sergeant William Welch […]
applying violent force after being spit on against an unarmed person who is restrained and subdued violates the Constitution
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) While on patrol around 1:00 a.m. on May 13, 2016, Officer Luis Zuniga noticed Aaron Soto driving the wrong way down a one-way street and pulled him over. Zuniga administered a field sobriety test, which Soto failed, and then used a portable breathalyzer […]